Hollywood memorabilia collector Joe Maddalena has one of the most prized collections in the world, and he sat down to share some of his more expensive pieces and the stories behind them, as well as what got him started. Read More

Heritage Auctions has announced that Rob Rosen, one of the nation’s leading dealers in high-end sports collectibles, has accepted a position with the auction house as Vice President of Private Sales & Consignments for the Heritage Sports Department. “I’m very excited for this opportunity to become a part of the hobby’s leading auction house,” said Rob. “The unparalleled financial and marketing strength of Heritage creates unlimited possibilities.” Read More

Sometimes your passion can indeed become a business. John Taube’s part time hobby became a full time interest in March 2002 when J.T. Sports became his profession. Most serious hobbyists know that the New Jersey resident is a dealer and also the authenticator for PSA/DNA. Read full story here at Shore News today.

(From Sports Market Report) - Hobbyists have many different motivations for collecting. Some do it for the challenge, while others do it for the love of either history, sports, a particular team or player. Those are just some of the driving forces behind the mind of the collector. In addition to those, and many more, one motivation that is sometimes overlooked is the desire to preserve history and pass it on to future generations. In the following piece, Joe Orlando explores this topic and how another collector motivated him to do so. Read more here.

Kevin Keating has been a prominent hobby figure for a long, long time. Known for his deep knowledge of sports autographs, Keating has developed a loyal following of those who share his passion for famous signatures. Along the way, Keating has developed close relationships with many public figures and has stayed active in a hobby that he would eventually turn into a career. To learn more about the latest addition to the PSA/DNA Autograph Authentication team, read this full story on PSA/DNA’s web site here.

Gary Cypres has built what’s believed to be the largest private collection of sports memorabilia in the world. It’s so big and so expansive, it’s actually a museum. The Sports Museum of Los Angeles shows off Cypres’ collection of vintage baseball cards and rare sports memorabilia, put together so it actually tells the story of sports throughout various eras and highlights some of the all-time greats. Read full story on Sports Collectors Daily. Read More

Heritage Auctions has announced that Derek Grady has joined the company as Vice President of Sports Auctions. Derek will assist with management of day-to-day operations of the Sports Collectibles department and utilize his extensive background in the trading card field to expand the breadth and quality of the sports offerings. “Derek is one of the most respected experts in the trading card hobby,” said Chris Ivy, Director of Heritage Sports. “For many top collectors, his seal of approval is a pre-requisite for any major purchase. We’re very pleased to bring that expertise to our staff.”

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PSA’s Joe Orlando appears on Rex Hudler’s Wonder Dog Hour radio program to discuss collecting and have a few laughs while checking out some local residents’ memorabilia. The interview is split into 4 parts so be sure to listen to them all! Listen too all four interviews here.

This past weekend at the Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectors Convention, news came out that long time hobby veteran,dealer, and auction leader Andy Madec (Andy Madec Sportscards, Inc.) will be joining the staff of Mile High Card Company. Since the Mid-1990′s, Andy Madec has been serving the needs of collectors and investors as a full service dealership. Offering an inventory of the finest sports cards and collectibles in the hobby.  Andy Madec has been featured on numerous nationally syndicated radio talk shows including Fox’s “The Brick”, ESPN Talk Radio, Bloomberg’s, Jerry Azar, Denver Clear Channel KOA’s Mike Rosen, Daybreak USA (200 Radio Stations), Business Radio Network, Trader Speaks Collectors Hour, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and many others.  Andy Madec has also been profiled in such publications as Forbes, Newsweek, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angles Times, and The New York Post. “We are very excited to bring such a great industry veteran and knowledgeable person onto the MHCC staff and know that Andy will help continue to bring growth and great sports memorabilia and cards to future Mile High Card Company auctions” said Brian Drent, owner of Mile High Card Company.  Mr. Madec will be officially joining Mile High Card Company on January 1, 2011.

BY MAUREEN O’DONNELL Staff Reporter Chicago Sun-Times – Grown-ups would walk into Steve Gold’s store and become kids again.  With case upon case of old baseball cards and other sports memorabilia, the store, called Au Sports, “might be one of the biggest card shops that’s ever been,” said Ryan Friedman of Auction Report. “Cards going back to the early 20th century — the ’20s, the ’30s, the ’40s. I remember begging my parents to drive us over there. You could spend hours upon days and still not see everything there.”  Mr. Gold, 52, died Thursday at Resurrection Hospital of complications from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, family members said. Read full story here.

Mike Gutierrez is a Consignment Director at Heritage Auction Galleries and an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow. As a sports autograph authenticator, Gutierrez is probably best known for his initial appraisal of Mark McGwire’s 70th-home-run ball, which sold at auction for $3 million. In this interview, Gutierrez talks about how he got into the sports-memorabilia field, how the field has changed, and the challenges of authenticating an autograph. Read the full interview at Collectors Weekly here.

Josh Wulkan, Vice-President of Huggins & Scott Auctions: It’s tough to describe all of Josh’s duties at Huggins and Scott. He really has a hand in every aspect of the business, and these catalogs and our internet site would not be anywhere close to what they are without him. He is our west coast consignments and acquisitions representative as well as our advertising manager, Vice President and part-owner. Josh entered the hobby at the ripe old age of 13, and now some 20+ years later he brings a work ethic and attention for details that are second to none. While his youthful appearance may deceive you at first, he has game that will impress you.

Ray Schulte – President / CEO of Schulteauctions.com – An entrepreneur at heart, Schulte started his New York sports marketing and management agency in 1984. While representing many of Jim Krivacs’ up-and-coming players (including Howard Johnson, Harold Reynolds, Alvin Davis and Don Mattingly), Ray also accepted consulting projects such as adidas USA’s transition to Young and Rubicam to achieve a more global marketing and advertising strategy. For a year, he played an integral role as liaison between adidas USA’s boutique ad agency and global powerhouse Y&R.

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(Written by T.S. O’Connell of SCD) – I don’t typically dwell on the prices of cards as much as most; I am traditionally more drawn to them because of the players pictured and the design of the cards. There are, however, exceptions, and the image shown here of a display of boxes of 1952 Topps cards at a Woolworth’s clearly qualifies as exceptional. In every sense of the word. Click here to read full article.

(Written by Joe Orlando, President of PSA) – As consumers continue to wrestle with economic fears and the government tries to avoid disaster, the hobby keeps plugging along. While there’s no question that a poor economy of this magnitude will impact the collectibles business, there’s also no question that our market has performed relatively well in comparison to most other traditional forms of investment. Click here for full aticle.

At about the same time the NBA announced it had selected Panini as its exclusive trading card licensee for the next four seasons, officials from the company say they began looking into the prospects of acquiring Donruss as a way to bring an experienced trading card sales, design and production team on board. Peter Warsop, group licensing director for Panini, told SCD that conversations between the two companies began on Jan. 23. Read the full story on SCD here.

The Panini Group, based in Italy, has just supplemented its new North American venture with the purchase of the sports trading card business of Donruss Playoff, L.P. The move had been speculated for weeks.  Donruss, from their Arlington Texas headquarters, currently produces trading cards under the brand names of Donruss, Playoff, Leaf and Score. Donruss is currently publishing officially licensed products for the NFL. Read full on Sports Collectors Daily here.

Collectors Universe, Inc, a leading provider of value-added authentication and grading services to dealers and collectors of high-value collectibles, diamonds and colored gemstones, today announced that, on January 9, 2009, its Board of Directors unanimously adopted a limited duration stockholder rights plan. The Plan has an initial term of one year ending in January 2010, but may be extended for two additional years if the Plan is approved by the stockholders on or prior to the end of that initial one-year term.

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Stuart Evans, a pioneer in the collectibles business, passed away on Jan. 4 at his home in Dorado, Puerto Rico, after suffering a stroke. He was 80. Evans is the father of Joshua Leland Evans, founder of Lelands.com. After a career in advertising, Stuart Evans began doing shows in 1969, and worked full time in the collectibles field for nearly 40 years. Services will be held in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, and in New Jersey on Jan.11.